Hard-Hearted

 “He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.”  Mark 3:5

I spent lots of time last night grading papers, and let’s just say that if I was disposed to discouragement, I would be down in the dumps.  I told my students how to work those problems.  I showed my students how to work those problems.  I answered questions, explained examples, and monitored their practice, but somehow the material only seemed to get under their skin and not into their skulls.  When it came crunch time, being hard-headed didn’t help.

Neither does being hard-hearted.  And it makes God mad. Jesus wasn’t happy when He turned over the tables of the Temple money-changers, but Mark tell us that He was angry when the people had hard and stubborn hearts. 

It happened on a Saturday.  Jesus was at the synagogue for Sabbath services, and so was a man with a messed-up hand.  The Pharisees were falling over themselves to see if Jesus would do work on the day off and break what they considered a divine command, so Jesus had the guy stand up and stumped them with a simple  question. “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”  Knowing any answer would implicate only themselves, the Pharisees said nothing, and their silence made Jesus mad and sad. “He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart”(Mk 3:5).

How do our hearts get hard?  How do our souls get stubborn? These questions have haunted me for days as I’ve pondered these verses.  Don’t think it can’t happen because it can and will unless we are diligent and determined to keep our spirits pliable.  Since sin is sly and deceptive and will slowly but surely turn our soft hearts into stones, we must continually and repeatedly “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness(Heb 3:13).

Just as my students do best with daily review, we require the same.  That’s why manna fell every morning—so God’s people would be required and reminded to stay freshly involved with God’s provision.  Picking up God’s Word early and often and getting to know God's heart are the best ways to prevent calluses from forming on our own. Since the thought of grieving God should grieve us, as “dearly loved children” we should deeply desire to bring Him delight and not distress.

It’s relieving and refreshing to note that man’s hardness can't prevent God’s holiness from showing and shining, and though the Pharisees were silent, Jesus got the last word by healing the man’s helpless hand.  “Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored”(Mk 3:5).  Some of those who saw might have gone home with a hardened heart, but we can be sure that the guy with fixed fingers felt the sweet softness that only gratitude for grace can give.

The math my students can’t do isn’t worth getting mad about, but so much in life truly matters.

Remember that it’s better to be hard-headed than hard-hearted, but it’s best for both to be soft.